


Abandoned Room

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [76]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, James Lives, M/M, Married Couple, Sirius Black Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 00:45:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16074824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Sirius has a run in with a boggart, and it's only James showing up that saves him from full blown panic.(Russian translation: ficbook.net/readfic/7425490)





	Abandoned Room

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: “Could you do one where one of the boys runs into a boggart and has a panic attack and the other has to snap him out of it after finding him there? There's no such thing as too much fluff”

It was ridiculous that Sirius-- a fully grown wizard who had fought in two wars-- would be bested by something as simple as a boggart. If someone got scared enough, they were essentially paralyzed. Not that boggarts could kill or even physically hurt someone, but they prompted fear and fed off of the emotion they caused. The best way to get around it was to remember that it wasn't real, but Sirius didn't manage that. Not when it was something he'd seen firsthand and had nightmares about. James was motionless on the floor, blood covering his stomach and staining the wooden floorboards under him, and eyes glassy behind his lenses. 

Sirius hadn't been expecting it. He'd opened the wardrobe door to grab Regulus's old jumper, not thinking to check for creatures, curses, or anything of the sort. He'd grabbed the jumper and turned back to the room's door, shaking dust out of the fabric and hoping that there weren't any dead bugs in it-- he hated bugs. 

Unnoticed by Sirius, the boggart slid out of the wardrobe and landed on the floor, taking form with a bloody gurgle that made Sirius turn around. 

"Wh-" Sirius was frowning as he spun, word stopping abruptly as he paled. His knees buckled, and he landed on the hardwood with a painful thud. 

James was dead.

_ Wait, but wasn't James downstairs waiting for him? _

But he could see James right in front of him. He had a gash on his side, a spell cutting through his skin from where the shield charm hadn't covered him. Sirius had never been good with healing spells, and even if he had, he was too far away, the battle too intense for him to have the time to even get over to him at all. Before help had come, he'd been sure that James was dead, and Sirius had watched it all happen. He couldn't scrub the memory from his mind no matter how much he wanted to. 

_ James is downstairs. _

No, James was right in front of him. Dead. Sirius's hand went to his wrist, and there was no warmth, let alone a heartbeat pulsing through his veins. He sobbed. 

There were footsteps behind him, but he didn't even register it because James was-

"Si? What's taking so- oh Merlin." All at once, the horrific image of dead James was gone, and there were warm hands on his shoulders, trying to bring him back from the dark place his mind had gone. James came into his view again, but this time he was alive looking exactly as he did when Sirius had seen him downstairs a few minutes ago. "Hey, Sirius look at me. Look at me," he said, putting his hands on either side of Sirius's face and trying to make him do as James asked. "I'm right here, I'm fine. That was just a boggart, it wasn't real." 

"Yes it was," he choked out, pitching forward into James's chest. 

James caught him because, well of course he did. It was James. He always caught Sirius. "It was a bad memory Sirius, that's all. I'm right here, okay?" He kept saying that, repeating it over and over until Sirius stopped shaking and finally nodded. 

Sirius cleared his throat but didn't move. "Well." He sniffled. "That was pathetic." 

"No it wasn't." 

"What kind of grown arse wizard can't take care of a measly boggart?" 

"The kind who has nightmares for memories," James said, and Sirius quieted down. This was a familiar conversation. Sirius would blame himself, and James would list all the reasons why he wasn't weak. Sometimes it helped, sometimes it didn't, but since it never made matters worse, James always did it if Sirius didn't show signs of feeling better. James turned his head and kissed his hair. "I love you, Sirius. I love you so much." 

"I know." 

"You gonna tell me that you love me too or do I have to guess?" James teased. 

Sirius swat at his arm and crawled into his lap instead of just leaning against him. Belatedly, he realised that the old jumper was still in his hands, and he dropped it to the side before wrapping his arms around James. "You'll have to guess," he mumbled, mouth smushed against James's shoulder. 

"Yeah. The last twenty years of marriage have been a real mystery." 

"You're the one that asked." 

"Yeah," James agreed with a grin. He pressed another kiss to Sirius's head. "Guess I did. Did you at least find the jumper?" 

Sirius nodded. "It's as hideous as we remember." 

"Be nice to him, he's not here to defend himself." 

"Not my fault." 

"Whatever you say sweetheart." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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